2007 Fast Growth 100: Company Profiles

HEARTLAND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Arlin Sorensen, founder and CEO of Heartland Technology Solutions, started his practice from the ground up—literally.

"I was a farmer and got the computer bug, and I was doing my own accounting on Apple Plus computers in 1982. So I just started helping area farmers buy computers and set up their accounting systems," Sorensen said. "I finally decided if I was going to spend my time doing it, I might as well get paid for it."

And that was what led to Heartland Technology Solutions (HTS), founded in 1985 on Sorensen's farm in Harlan, Iowa, where its headquarters still reside today. The company boasts a staff of 80 employees in five Midwestern states.

HTS reported a 2006 revenue of more than $11.5 million, which represents a growth of almost 82 percent over the two years covered by the Fast Growth survey. Sorenson credits the solution provider's recent rash of mergers and acquisitions and their accompanying "quality management team of veteran players" as one of the largest contributors to this growth. This strong managment team, each with different areas of expertise from the various companies they've run, has been key, he said.

Another component of HTS' prosperity lies in its relationships with its vendor partners. Each year, HTS hosts a strategic planning event with its four vendor and one distributor partner—Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, SonicWall, 3Com and Ingram Micro—to lay out a joint marketing and sales strategy for the year. "I'm tired of trying to run campaigns for one vendor, so whenever we run an event, it's multivendor and solution-focused. We get all of them on the same page at the same time."

HTS serves several niche markets, has an aggressive marketing approach toward business and is primarily SMB focused—but it is pushing into the midmarket as it geographically expands, Sorensen said.

Elizabeth Dolski

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